Apparently there's a commercial in the US for a pharmacy company where Lynn Redgrave speaks about how she refuses to die from breast cancer. That is not her choice to make, of course. If she's lucky, her cancer won't come back and it won't spread. If she's not lucky, then she'll be like me or any other breast cancer patients with metastases, who are almost certainly going to die from this disease. It doesn't matter how strongly I refuse to die from breast cancer, or how hard I fight it: it will almost certainly get me in the end.
Some people with breast cancer metastases are very upset by this commercial, for the reasons I give above, and because the idea that "people can refuse to die from breast cancer" diminishes the severity of this disease. I agree with them. This doesn't mean that I'm giving up, of course :) I'm still going to fight to keep my quality of life, and I will fight to do the things I like to do for as long as I can. I'll fight to get the best treatments I can to prolong my life as much as I can. I can't refuse to let breast cancer get me, but I'll do everything I can to make it wait to have me :)
1 comment:
I haven't seen the commercial, but I definitely find that offensive. There's the implication that force of will or determination can beat cancer. Really, now, I guess that's the key that nobody has ever tried, right (heavy sarcasm)?! While I'm certain that a strong defense can improve life expectancy, denial has not proven to be of much use!
Love,
Vicki
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